Balance of payments in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the external position

The Central Bank of Iceland has published on its website the preliminary statistics for the balance of payments in the fourth quarter of 2013, and for the external position at the end of the quarter.

The current account balance was positive by 11.1 b.kr. during the quarter, as compared with a positive balance of 54.6 b.kr. in the preceding quarter. The goods account balance showed a surplus of 23.9 b.kr., whereas the balance on services was negative by 3.6 b.kr. The balance on income was negative by 9.1 b.kr. The current account balance excluding the effects of deposit institutions in winding-up proceedings was positive by 20.1 b.kr., as compared with a surplus of 63.2 b.kr. in the preceding quarter.

As before, the income account deficit is due largely to the deposit institutions in winding-up proceedings. Calculated expenditures due to these institutions totalled 14.6 b.kr., while revenues were 5.7 b.kr. The negative effect of deposit institutions in winding-up proceedings on the balance on income totalled 8.9 b.kr. The balance on income excluding these institutions was therefore negative by 0.2 b.kr.

The planned changes in methodology and the associated publication of statistics will take place in September 2014 and not in June, as was stated in the last balance of payments press release. This is done to ensure consistency with statistics on trade in goods and services and with the national accounts, which are handled by Statistics Iceland. Further information on the effects of the changes on statistics will be forthcoming at a later time. A summary of the changes can be found in Appendix 8 of the new balance of payments manual.